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 For the past four decades, Gardner has outmaneuvered states
including Florida and Nevada to protect the front-runner spot
mandated by New Hampshire law - and it has not always been easy. The
state has steadily moved forward its primary, originally held in
March. It shoe-horned the past two contests into January.
Ask Gardner when the 2016 primary, which marks the 100th anniversary
of the event, will be held and he smiles, careful not to limit his
options.
"I have never set the date and then changed it," said Gardner, 66.
"I wait until I feel it's safe to do it and then I do it."
But the early January primaries of 2008 and 2012 were unpopular with
Democratic and Republican officials, who worried that Americans were
paying more attention to holiday parties than to candidates
barnstorming New Hampshire and Iowa, whose citizens kick off
nominating season with caucuses.
This time around, observers said, it is unlikely that former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or former Florida Governor Jeb
Bush will be showing up at diners in Manchester or town meetings in
the White Mountains between Christmas and New Year's next year.
"I suspect that this time will be different, that we won't have the
creep that we've had," said Neil Levesque, executive director of the
New Hampshire Institute of Politics.
The Republican National Committee has established rules penalizing
states that hold votes ahead of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina
or Nevada, he noted.
RETAIL POLITICS
Regardless of when the primary is held, White House hopefuls already
are making the rounds in New Hampshire, where voters expect to speak
to candidates in person before they vote.
Most make multiple visits to the state before arriving at Gardner's
state house office, where candidates from former President George W.
Bush to Clinton have sat down at a wooden desk and filled out the
paperwork to get on New Hampshire's primary ballot.
Several voters said they were looking forward to the flood of
candidates.
"I enjoy it and you get to know much more about them than you would
just watching TV and reading the papers," Nancy LeBlanc, a
77-year-old retiree, said over breakfast at Chez Vachon, a
Manchester diner popular with barnstorming candidates.
The state's political leaders contend that voters like LeBlanc play
a valuable role in the U.S. political process by allowing
little-known names to gain momentum.
In recent decades, Republican Arizona Senator John McCain, and
Democratic former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter both used strong
showings in New Hampshire to snag their parties' nominations after
lackluster early starts.
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The primary is all the more valuable as television ads play an
ever-greater role in later stages of campaigns.
"A candidate that comes in with $20 million in the bank already has
a lead on one who does not," said Jennifer Horn, chairman of the
state's Republican Party. "A state like New Hampshire allows those
other candidates a fair chance."
Outside the state, some see New Hampshire's position as little more
than a quirk of history and doubt that its voters are more astute
than those in any other state.
"Why should it always be Iowa and New Hampshire? There are plenty of
states with two or three electoral votes that could kick off the
process," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia
Center for Politics.
"But it's not going to change," he said.
Regardless of how unique New Hampshire's voters are, observers
agreed that Gardner, who has held his position since 1976, has stood
out for his ability to uphold the New Hampshire law that requires
its primary to be the first by at least a week.
"There is no such thing as pressuring Bill Gardner and woe to the
person who tries," said Ray Buckley, chairman of the state's
Democratic Party. "Bill is going to do what he thinks is best for
the primary and that's it."
Gardner, who served briefly in the state legislature before taking
on his current role, said he has no intention of allowing New
Hampshire's position to slip.
"As long as the people of the state have the will to keep this, they
will keep this," Gardner said. "There are not a whole lot of
political traditions in this country that are lasting. This is one."
(Reporting by Scott Malone)
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